CHAPTER 56: WAIT FOR ME.

"You’re not okay."

Le An went silent for a moment, as if someone had just spoken an undeniable truth right to his face. Usually, after telling people around him that he was fine, he didn’t have to convince them, or if he did, it was always easy.

But no one had ever said to his face, "You’re not okay."

So now, when that truth was presented to him in a way he couldn’t easily deflect, and when the one saying it was Taras, he found he couldn’t deny it.

Le An simply nodded, as if saying alright.

Because saying I’m fine would’ve been a lie.

Taras slowly withdrew the hand he had pushed against Le An’s shoulder, and a hint of satisfaction appeared on his face, likely born from Le An’s acceptance.

Le An, with his head bowed, swallowed hard as Taras’s fingers entered his field of view. He lifted his head, parting his lips.

"You said you wanted guiding."

Taras nodded while looking into Le An’s eyes.

He finally moved, and the shadow cast by his figure lifted off Le An.

As Le An sat there, hesitating whether or not to stand up, Taras sat down beside him on the bed. The mattress shifted under his weight, nudging Le An slightly.

Le An, now sitting forward as if staring straight ahead, couldn’t bring himself to look at Taras, sitting right next to him.

His heart pounded with the strangeness of being so close. He stared down at their legs, waiting.

"Turn toward me," Taras said, like giving a command.

Le An turned to face him, and for a brief moment, his knee brushed against Taras’s leg.

Taras, remembering the bold omega from his own unit, found it almost amusing how Treasure was flinching to the slightest touch.

As Le An turned toward him, Taras placed his hand over Le An’s wrist, which was resting on his thigh. It was their usual guiding position, but side by side.

Le An looked into Taras’s eyes to begin, but only when Taras said, "Start," was he finally able to initiate the guiding.

That energy, his energy began to soothe all the chaos within Taras, like a gust blowing over a cloud of dust or a burning wound.

It felt as if none of the breaths Taras had taken until now were complete, none had ever cleared out his lungs, he silently drew in a deep breath without letting Le An notice.

Meanwhile, Le An quietly watched Taras’s thumb move along the joints of his fingers.

Taras’s thumb would travel from the knuckles over the back of his hand, sometimes to his wrist.

It was a firm touch, as if reminding Le An of Taras’s presence, as if trying to erase something by rubbing over his skin.

But... the touch didn’t disturb Le An.

On the contrary, the motion lulled him like it might put him to sleep, it made him forget everything except this very moment.

"Raise it a bit more," Taras said, the impatience in his tone revealing how long it had been since he last received guiding.

Le An cast him a fleeting glance, then lowered his head and increased the energy flow slightly.

As Taras’s body absorbed the energy like an anchor plunging into the depths of the ocean, Le An briefly wondered why Taras needed guiding so badly again.

But then, recalling how suddenly they’d met, how unexpectedly they were now sitting side by side, and how Taras’s thumb repeated that familiar motion, Le An got it, Taras had been in that attack.

That attack must have drained him deeply, maintaining the shadow form, materializing it into a giant serpent-like body, and using it to crush and suffocate something—or someone.

Of course Taras would still need guiding.

When the energy flow faltered and grew irregular, Taras broke his dazed state by squeezing and releasing Le An’s wrist.

"Focus. Don’t think of anything else."

Le An looked at him with an expression that almost said, How could I possibly not think of anything else?

Taras, in turn, thought that this expression was the very embodiment of the pure energy Le An was transferring to his body.

He had the urge to absorb more of it, to somehow consume that face entirely.

Le An recognized that deepening, darkening look all too well, he knew that was esper hunger.

But Taras’s expression wasn’t like any other esper’s, it wasn’t just need. It harbored something more destructive. Le An struggled to look away.

And then, Taras spread his fingers and rested his hand on top of Le An’s, sliding his own fingers slowly between Le An’s.

It was as if his palm itched to meet Le An’s. He slid his fingers under Le An’s, palm against palm, and interlocked them.

They were holding hands.

The redness that had just begun to fade from Le An’s face returned.

As the energy passed through the sweat on Le An’s palm into Taras’s body, the sensation within Taras intensified. The urge to consume more. To consume and exhaust.

As he stared into Le An’s eyes, Taras thought that Le An’s scent wasn’t bothersome anymore. There were no foreign pheromone left on his body.

A floral body wash and Le An’s skin, his own scent.

Le An’s natural scent didn’t evoke the same reaction as his pheromones, but it smelled just the same.

Taras found that odd. Usually, unless pheromones were active, an omega’s scent was private, hidden.

But Treasure’s scent... was exposed. It was just there for anyone who came close enough.

Only if you get this close, Taras repeated to himself.

"That’s enough," Taras finally said. It might have been their shortest guiding session ever.

When their hands slowly separated and returned to their laps, Le An’s mind was in chaos.

A voice in him now clung to another version of the story, one where Taras had decided not to kill him at the last moment.

Why would the man who wanted to kill him now be holding his hand?

Why did they just held hands at all? Why wasn’t he giving any explanation?

Maybe Taras owed him no explanation, true. But wasn’t it cruel to stand at the edge of hatred and something else entirely, to come so close to killing him and then... somehow give him hope?

Once again, that ’why are you doing this to me’ expression began to form on Le An’s face, but Taras interrupted his emotions with something unexpected.

"They said you were crying because you couldn’t save an omega," Taras said as he stood up from the bed.

Le An, frozen in place, looked at him. "You... heard that from the others?"

"You look like you didn’t want me to know," Taras said, raising a brow. There was a questioning tone to his voice.

Le An shook his head. His lips parted. "No, I just... I’m surprised."

"Hm."

Taras stood with his arms crossed in front of him, then unfolded them and took a few steps around the room. He turned back to Le An.

"What happened to that omega?"

"..." Le An looked at him, unable to read his intent.

"W-why are you asking?"

Taras stared directly at him, weighing the best approach to make Treasure more useful.

By force? By exchange?

Or perhaps... like that omega, Treasure might also want to drag those powerful names down into the dirt. Maybe he would help willingly.

Taras tilted his head and studied Le An’s cautious face.

Le An once again averted his gaze, blushing, a new habit he’d developed lately.

Taras made his decision.

"I also heard that even though you wanted to protect him, you couldn’t. The alpha after him was someone important, right?"

Le An nodded. Taras continued. "Whose son was he?"

"...The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs’ son," Le An said.Taras gave a slight nod. Le An hadn’t lied.

As Taras opened his mouth to speak, Le An suddenly began talking, as if he needed to say it.

"That omega... works at one of the GAC event buildings, in the VIP section on the terrace," Le An said. "His name is Kiet."

As a deep expression crossed Le An’s face, Taras stepped closer and asked,

"So Treasure’s also a VIP guest, then."

"No," Le An said, shaking his head violently. "I-I only go there because the sponsors invite me."

"Then how did you meet that omega?"

Le An pressed his fingers against the palm Taras had held earlier and answered.

"We bumped into each other at the entrance a long time ago and had a brief conversation. He told me his name. I remembered it."

"And besides that?" Taras looked at him inquisitively.

Le An frowned.

"Besides that... what?"

"You cried so hard just because you couldn’t save an omega that had nothing to do with you?"

Le An’s expression turned sour. He stared at the floor and responded without lifting his head, afraid Taras might be mocking him.

"It doesn’t matter if he had anything to do with me," he said. "He asked for help. That was enough of a connection."

Taras, without any trace of mockery, spoke. "But you couldn’t help him."

"..." Le An pushed the bangs from his face, swallowed hard, and after a pause, only nodded.

"Look at me," Taras said.

Le An raised his head and saw that Taras’s expression was even more serious than he expected.

Le An’s eyes shimmered with thin crystalline lines of tears. He felt ashamed for a moment.

"Why did you want to save that omega? What does the Deputy Minister’s son do to him?" Taras asked.

Now, as Le An stared back at him without looking away, he finally understood why Taras was asking all this.

"You’re asking to see if there’s a scandal, aren’t you?" he asked, unable to hold it in. "You want to expose him."

"What, are you scar—"

"No," Le An interrupted for the first time, his irises glowing with a different light even as his heart raced. He began to spill everything he knew.

"In the VIP rooms, only recessive omegas are admitted. Every VIP guest gets assigned a personal recessive omega.

Kiet must’ve been assigned to that alpha—the Deputy Minister’s son," Le An said.

Taras looked at him as if to say go on.

Le An nodded, and as if connecting the dots in his mind, his pupils trembled.

"The Deputy Minister was also in the room. There was another omega besides Kiet—Kiet told me.

And he..." Le An swallowed. "He mentioned a drug. A drug used to persuade omegas, dull their consent—before they’re sold and marketed."

Le An stood up and went to the bathroom to retrieve a piece of the prescription from his pants pocket.

Taras quietly watched him as he returned with the paper in hand, and his eyes locked onto it like a predator spotting prey.

He thought about snatching it away, to return home with that evidence in hand. His hand twitched.

But Le An walked toward him and, without requiring anything from him, held the paper out.

"Here’s the proof," Le An said, placing the paper in his palm.

Taras took it without taking his eyes off him.

Le An scratched the back of his neck and took a step back, and that distance seemed to comfort him as he continued.

"Kiet said those omegas were being sold, some even k-killed. I... When Tracker and the big names are involved-"

"You do realize what could happen now that you’ve told me all this, don’t you?" Taras asked, interrupting.

"Yes," Le An said. When Taras closed the distance between them again, Le An just stood there with his yes.

Taras couldn’t believe Le An genuinely wanted to help him, he grabbed Le An by the chin again, to look into his eyes.

"I’m doing this for Kiet," Le An added, as if to explain.

"And what about those old bastards who touched you, and their experiments?" Taras asked, his fingers brushing through Le An’s hair and along his jawline.

"The ones who tou-ah," Le An flinched like a snake had slithered beneath his ear, bit his lip, tilted his head away, and swallowed.

His Adam’s apple moved slightly.

That small motion made it easier for Taras to fully grasp the warm nape with his fingers.

Taras, feeling the heat and frantic pulse under his palm, pulled Le An closer.

"What do you want in return for this paper?" he asked.

"W-what?" Le An stared at Taras in disbelief.

"You get one wish," Taras said, his eyes finding the hidden beauty mark where Le An’s lips met.

Now that Taras’s body was so close, Le An could smell him, earth and wind filling his lungs.

He tried to hold his hands up between them to avoid contact, but Taras pulled him in even closer, pinning Le An’s arms to his chest.

As Le An felt his knees weaken, unsure what to think, his lips parted and he spoke the first thing that came to mind.

"Save Kiet," Le An said, his breath trembling.

Tears welled up again in his eyes, and he pushed his hands against Taras’s chest, trying to back away.

At the same time, Taras tightened his grip on the back of Le An’s neck, drawing him even closer.

He liked the look on Le An’s face.

"That’s your wish?" he asked.

Le An couldn’t speak—he just trembled and nodded. But his expression was close to crying from stress.

Taras sighed, watching the nearly falling tears in Le An’s eyes.

He raised his other hand and gently cupped Le An’s cheek.

"Good job, Treasure."

As the hands that gripped his soul withdrew, Le An staggered slightly in the empty space Taras’s body had left behind.

With a dark glint in his eyes, Taras said before leaving,

"We have a deal."

The shadows brushed past Le An’s body, gathering around Taras’s frame and beginning to swallow him whole.

Just his silhouette and face remained visible as he said, "Wait for me."

Le An, not knowing what to say, simply nodded.